SANTA ANA — A Garden Grove man was ordered to stand trial today on charges of sexually assaulting three young prostitutes and killing another, a descendant of the founder of the Montessori schools.

Superior Court Judge John Flynn III ruled after a preliminary hearing that there is sufficient evidence to try Jonathan Phong Khanh Tran, 21, for the Jan. 19, 2004, death of Hanna Denise Montessori, 15, near Harbor Boulevard and Fifth Street in Santa Ana.

Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin contended that Montessori struck her head on pavement when she jumped out of Tran’s pickup, fearing she was about to be raped.

Montessori, a runaway from Georgia, was identified nearly three months later. She was the great-great-granddaughter of Maria Montessori, an Italian educator who founded the Montessori method of teaching, which stresses that children learn at their own pace.

Yellin also argued that Tran picked up two other prostitutes in the same area, including an 18-year-old four days earlier and a 17-year-old the month before, and drove them to Garden Grove and Anaheim, stole their money and sexually assaulted them.

Tran also was ordered to stand trial for sexual assault under color of authority for allegedly picking up a 16-year-old prostitute in September 2005 and forcing her to perform oral sex after he flashed a badge and threatened to arrest her if she didn’t comply, Yellin said.